Recent developments in the field of atomic physics have made it possible to control the motion of atoms in a vacuum using laser beams. Research to date has mainly been directed toward slowing a beam of atoms and creating a local energy minimum that could be used to contain or "trap" atoms within an optical field. More recently emphasis has been placed on steering and focusing atom beams using laser generated optical fields. This technology has been referred to as "atom optics." Atom optics is analogous to either light optics with the glass lens elements being replaced by shaped optical fields which are produced by lasers, or electron optics with optical fields instead of static electric or magnetic fields.
A first step toward the practical realization of using atoms to produce microstructures directly was reported by Timp et al ("Using Light as a Lens for Submicron, Neutral-Atom Lithography", Physical Review Letters, Vol. 69, No. 11, Sep. 14, 1992, pp. 1636-1639). In this method, an optical standing wave is positioned between a source of atoms and the surface upon which the atoms are to be deposited. Alternating rows of intense and weak radiation of the standing wave field cause atoms to be deflected to form lines of atoms on the surface. The lines are spaced by the periodicity of the peaks in the radiation field, i.e., a distance of one-half of the wavelength of the light.
The disclosure of Timp et al is limited to the use of a sodium atom beam and thus sodium deposition. However, sodium structures which can be made from such techniques are of little practical value due to the extreme reactivity of sodiums.